Celebrating the Woman for Good Finalists

Jul 1

Woman for Good Finalists 2025

Each year this award spotlights women who harness digital skills to move communities, industries – and the world – forward. Read on to hear about the trail-blazing women who are finalists in the Woman for Good category. We celebrate their ingenuity, their impact and the inspiration they provide.

Fi Williams - Fife Council

About:
Dr Fi Williams is a public sector digital transformation specialist with a doctorate in Digital Culture and two decades’ experience turning human-centred technology ideas into scalable practice. Now Workforce Strategy & Organisational Development Manager at Fife Council, she builds programmes that raise digital capability and embed inclusive, technology-enabled learning. Her innovations include a project for the Scottish Government and the development of the Workplace Buddy App, meanwhile she is a frequent conference speaker on AI ethics, digital inclusion and tech-enhanced learning.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Dr Fi is shortlisted for the Woman for Good Award because she turns lived experience into scalable “tech-for-good” solutions that improve people’s working lives. Her Workplace Buddy App – a configurable tool that provides just-in-time, adaptive support for neurodivergent employees – has already proved its impact in UK pilots and has attracted international partners. Across roles that include leading the Scottish Government’s Digital Lifelines programme and serving as RSA Fellow, Fi consistently uses her expertise to bridge policy, research, and real-world need, ensuring technology extends opportunity for people who are too often excluded.

Jenica Leah - My Friend Jen

About:
Jenica is an award-winning author, speaker, and sickle-cell advocate who harnesses digital platforms to deliver clear, life-saving information and build community for people living with chronic illness. Through her charity and children’s book series My Friend Jen, she provides positive education on sickle cell, while her candid social media content breaks stigma, promotes blood donation, and empowers audiences to turn pain into purpose.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Jenica earned her place on the shortlist by turning her own sickle cell journey into a global, digitally driven movement for awareness and support. She designs every Reel, podcast, livestream and online event to educate underserved communities, dismantle stigma and promote blood donation, while personally managing the entire digital strategy for both her brand and her charity. Viral book donation campaigns she created have stocked hospitals and schools in Nigeria, The Gambia and Jamaica; her Birmingham conference blended on-site impact with worldwide streaming; and she mentors other European advocates in launching their own podcasts and digital initiatives. All of this is delivered while she lives with the same life-threatening condition she campaigns to demystify.

Katie Lamond - Katie Lamond Transformative Coaching & Vooba

About:
Katie is an ICF-accredited transformative coach and Account Manager at digital marketing agency Vooba. After starting her career in local newspaper and directory advertising, she has spent more than 20 years helping SMEs grow through data-led marketing and, most recently, AI-driven strategy. Alongside her agency role, Katie runs a coaching practice that supports business owners, leaders and vulnerable individuals – from women recovering from gambling addiction to clients rebuilding after grief – to sharpen focus, prevent burnout and achieve sustained progress.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Over the past 10 months Katie has provided free workshops, group programmes and 1-to-1 coaching to people facing gambling addiction, drug recovery, ADHD and bereavement, combining her ICF-accredited expertise with lived resilience to help clients move from overwhelm to clarity. Now she is developing a bespoke ChatGPT-based “mental personal trainer” that delivers adaptive journaling prompts, breath-work, visualisations and daily routines – high-quality coaching available to anyone at no cost. Balancing numerous balls, Katie exemplifies the award’s spirit by harnessing technology to make support accessible to those who need it most and creating a ripple effect of wellbeing across the communities she serves.

Jen Moore

About:
Jen is a campaigner for endometriosis, adenomyosis and medical gaslighting awareness. After enduring years of misdiagnosed pain that cost her a business, fertility and multiple organs, she turned her experience into action. Jen now works with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Endometriosis, NHS trusts, medical schools and national charities to improve diagnosis, treatment and public understanding of these diseases. Her Instagram community engages with her clear, empathetic educational content, and her advocacy has featured across national media.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Jen’s nomination is driven by the real-world impact of her digital advocacy: the educational content she shares with her Instagram community routinely leads to long-overdue diagnoses for women who have spent years dismissed by clinicians. This grassroots momentum has translated into real change: working with the University of Cambridge clinical school, she has secured the first formal endometriosis and adenomyosis module in its curriculum and is encouraging other medical schools and professional bodies to follow suit. She is co-founding the Endometriosis Action Alliance, and her forthcoming book has already been endorsed by doctors as the definitive, up-to-date resource they will recommend to colleagues. Jen turns personal pain into tangible progress, exemplifying exactly why this award exists.

Robbie Schneider - Franciscan Health

About:
Robbie is a healthcare social media strategist and former journalist who champions mental health awareness for digital professionals. After a decade creating public health content for hospitals, she witnessed the toll of online misinformation and the pandemic on those managing social channels. Her experience drove her to become an industry advocate, speaking and writing on burnout, workplace systems, and emotional wellbeing in marketing roles.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Robbie earned her place on the shortlist for using healthcare social media not just to market services, but to safeguard the mental health of the professionals who run those channels. After a decade managing hospital accounts, she shifted from pure strategy to advocacy, speaking and writing about burnout, ethical engagement, and the psychological impact of being “always on.” Her 2024 book distils that work into practical guidance now adopted by teams across the industry, while her leadership roles with SocialMedia.org Health and US state-level marketing boards help turn those insights into systemic change.

Taryn Ellens - AInome Inc.

About:
Taryn is a Digital Systems Scientist, clinical counsellor, and PhD researcher at the University of Alberta. As founder of AInome, she is leading the creation of a Mental Wellness Index – a real-time data tool co-designed with First Nations to improve how we measure, understand, and invest in community wellness. Grounded in more than a decade of trauma-informed practice in Canada’s North, her work blends systems thinking, ethical AI, and community-led innovation to re-imagine how data can improve mental health outcomes in remote and underserved regions.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Taryn’s place on the shortlist comes from what she has already delivered in the past 12 months: a working pilot of the Mental Wellness Index now running in two Yukon First Nations communities; an interactive dashboard that has cut the time it takes local leaders to spot emerging wellness risks from months to days; and a funding commitment from a provincial agency to expand the system across northern Canada in 2026. She has done this alongside funding AInome, securing ethics approval for a multi-year study, and coordinating an Indigenous-led data-governance board that owns every line of community data. Taryn is setting a new standard for mental health solutions in underserved and remote regions.

Elspeth Dunn - Wetwheels South East CIC

About:
Elspeth is an entrepreneur and community volunteer. She is co-director of Dunn Virtually Ltd, the virtual assistant firm she founded in 2019 and incorporated in 2024 to give businesses flexible administrative support. Beyond her company, Elspeth is deeply involved in local water sport and charity projects, including being office manager and volunteer crew for Wetwheels South East – which provides accessible power-boating for disabled people. Elspeth brings the same calm, hands-on organisation to her community roles as she does to her business. She actively engages with the community through outreach events and fundraising initiatives, reflecting her commitment to inclusivity and service.

Reason for Shortlisting:
As Wetwheels South East’s office manager and volunteer crew, Elspeth has overhauled booking and communication systems, built partnerships with organisations that support people with complex needs, and helped push group trips to record levels. Her grant-writing has secured funds for vessel upgrades, fully funded outings, and wider reach for those who otherwise face barriers to boating. Whether coordinating multi-agency visits or welcoming first-time passengers, Elspeth consistently turns inclusive ideals into practical results, giving countless families memories that leave disability at the dockside.

Rebecca Ruddock - University of Sheffield / Our Time HQ

About:
Rebecca is a feminist researcher, writer, and advocate committed to gender equity and ethical technology. As a PhD candidate, she investigates how women entrepreneurs interpret and contend with social media algorithms. Beyond her doctorate, Rebecca is Head of Ethical AI and Impact at Our Time, a tech-for-good start-up, and an active contributor to the Digital Good Network, where she promotes responsible, inclusive innovation. Across research, mentoring, and advocacy, she is dedicated to making digital spaces fairer, safer, and more supportive for women-led businesses.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Rebecca’s doctoral research is one of the first to blend sociology with algorithm studies, exposing how platform design and bias impede women-led businesses. At the same time, she translates those findings into action: designing affordable, values-led marketing programmes, authoring The Social Media Handbook for Soulful Entrepreneurs, and advising local support networks so women can navigate social media on fairer terms. Beyond academia, she shapes responsible innovation policy as Head of Ethical AI & Impact at Our Time and contributes to national “digital public good” agendas through the ESRC-funded Digital Good Network.

Samantha Riella - University of Liverpool

About:
Samantha is a communications and engagement specialist committed to equity, inclusion, and meaningful impact. As Alumni Engagement Officer at the University of Liverpool Management School, she designs and delivers global networking events, mentoring schemes, speaker series, and digital campaigns for a 40,000-strong alumni community. Her initiatives – such as the Women in Business series and International Women’s Day programmes – spotlight gender equality champions and empower students and graduates worldwide.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Samantha earned her shortlist place for spearheading transformative, women-centred initiatives at the University of Liverpool Management School: she created the high-profile Women in Business Speaker Series, is launching a global Women in Leadership Alumni Network, and has expanded mentoring programmes that guide female students and graduates through early-career challenges. By blending strategic digital engagement with inclusive, in-person events, she has built platforms where women share candid career stories, exchange expertise and forge supportive connections across industries and continents.

Karolina McIlroy - kmac digital ltd

About:
Karolina is a digital marketing strategist and founder of kmac digital, an agency that helps UK charities turn online channels into reliable engines for fundraising and supporter engagement. She couples 20 years of commercial experience with six years of hands-on Meta Ads expertise, delivering data-driven campaigns that balance metrics with storytelling. Before launching kmac digital, Karolina spent a decade in-house at Guide Dogs, where she built digital fundraising from scratch until it generated nearly a third of all individual donations. She now works in partnership with nonprofit teams, emphasising transparency and multi-channel strategy so organisations gain lasting digital capability rather than agency dependence.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Karolina builds data-driven, psychologically astute campaigns that have delivered sector-leading results – from taking a homelessness charity from zero to 899 donations in 12 weeks, to lifting a national charity’s income 83% while cutting costs 43%, and scaling a children’s appeal 451% year-on-year. Beyond the numbers she instils sustainable skills, transferring knowledge instead of creating agency dependency, and is soon launching a Meta Ads course and community to upskill fundraisers sector-wide. Her mix of technical mastery, proven impact, and genuine commitment to nonprofit growth embodies exactly what this award seeks to recognise.

Elisabeth Anna Resch - Cambridge SupTech Lab

About:
Elisabeth is Lead for Partnerships & Ecosystem Acceleration at Cambridge SupTech Lab, an initiative of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. Before Cambridge, Elisabeth held senior roles at the World Bank Group, Global Citizen and the UN Global Compact, where she led accelerator initiatives engaging thousands of companies to set ambitious targets for gender equality and women’s leadership, and earlier supported adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals while in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.

Reason for Shortlisting:
For her success in turning Cambridge SupTech Lab into a truly global collaboration hub, Elisabeth has been shortlisted for this award. In the past year she designed and delivered SupTech Week, launched the Innovation Leaders Residency to give supervisors hands-on experience with AI and data analytics tools, and created a public-private secondment scheme that embeds tech talent inside regulators and vice-versa. Elisabeth’s work exemplifies how digital innovation can be harnessed for public good, creating ripple effects across financial systems globally.

Dr Maria Athanasiou - Durham University

About:
Dr Maria Athanasiou, Lecturer at Newcastle University, Researcher at Durham, and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, holds a PhD in Musicology, an MA in Art, Law and Economy and a BA (Hons) in Applied Music Studies. Her award-winning work explores teaching methods, popular music performance, and how activism and social entrepreneurship shape digital business in the creative industries.

Reason for Shortlisting:
A PhD-trained musicologist and educator, Dr Maria has taught and mentored learners of all ages on three continents, guided students through exams, and shaped inclusive curricula that put diversity and social justice at their core. Her research drives cross-institution projects linking music, digital business and the humanities; she has authored international toolkits on teacher mentoring, and advised SMEs on creative growth and mental health focused practices. At the same time, Maria has led community and academic initiatives that amplify the voices of thousands of women worldwide, turning their lived experience into global collaborations.

The Digital Women Awards are proud to celebrate these extraordinary individuals.